We realize the importance of our voices only when they are silenced.
– Malala Yousafzai
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
– Maya Angelou
After all, Ginger Rogers did everything that Fred Astaire did. She just did it backward and in high heels.
– Ann Richards
If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.
– Margaret Thatcher
The secret of getting ahead is getting started.
– Sally Berger
It’s not your job to like me, it’s mine.
– Byron Katie
Our deepest wishes are whispers of our authentic self. We must learn to respect them. We must learn to listen.
– Sarah Ban Breathnach
We can do no great things, only small things with great love.
– Mother Theresa
Success is getting what you want; happiness is wanting what you get.
– Ingrid Bergman
A woman is like a tea bag — you never know how strong she is until she gets in hot water.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life’s a bitch. You’ve got to go out and kick ass.
– Maya Angelou
I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all.
– Coco Chanel
Be the type of girl that climbs the ladder wrong by wrong.
– Mae West
We have to become the men we wanted to marry.
– Gloria Steinem
Women must try to do as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.
– Amelia Earhart
It is past time for women to take their rightful place, side by side with men, in the rooms where the fates of peoples, where their children’s and grandchildren’s fates, are decided.
– Hillary Clinton
When anyone tells me I can’t do anything … I’m just not listening anymore.
– Florence Griffith Joyner
Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.
– Margaret Thatcher
Nothing is impossible. The word itself says, “I’m possible!”
– Audrey Hepburn
Whatever women do they must do twice as well as men to be thought half their inferior. Luckily, this is not difficult.
– Charlotte Whitton
The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.
– Coco Chanel
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.”
– Mary Anne Radmacher
A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.
– Melinda Gates
Expect the unexpected, and whenever possible, be the unexpected.
– Lynda Berry
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.
– Alice Walker
And the trouble is, if you don’t risk anything, you risk more.
– Erica Jong
Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.
– Anais Nin
We cannot change what we are not aware of, and once we are aware, we cannot help but change.
– Sheryl Sandberg
Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.
– Oprah Winfrey
You only live once, but if you do it right, once is only enough.
– Mae West
Find out who you are and be that person. That’s what your soul was put on this Earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth and everything else will come.
– Ellen DeGeneres
Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.
– Mary Kay Ash
I dwell in possibility.
– Emily Dickinson
I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.
– Susan Sontag
Do one thing every day that scares you.
– Eleanor Roosevelt
Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure you do things differently from everyone else.
– Sarah Blakely
It is our choices, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.
– J.K. Rowling
I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that’s how you grow. When there’s that moment of ‘Wow, I’m not really sure I can do this,’ and you push through those moments, that’s when you have a breakthrough.
– Marissa Mayer
Don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.
– Michelle Obama
If you don’t like being a doormat then get off the floor.
– Al Anon
I used to walk down the street like I was a superstar… I want people to walk around delusional about how great they can be — and then to fight so hard for it every day that the lie becomes the truth.
– Lady Gaga
I learned to always take on things I’d never done before. Growth and comfort do not coexist.
– Virginia Rometty
It took me quite a long time to develop a voice, and now that I have it, I am not going to be silent.
– Madeleine Albright
A lot of people are afraid to say what they want. That’s why they don’t get what they want.
– Madonna
The most effective way to do it, is to do it.
– Amelia Earhart
Always concentrate on how far you have come, rather than how far you have left to go. The difference in how easy it seems will amaze you.
– Heidi Johnson
Are these quotes by notable women inspiring you to take a step on your own path toward leadership in your community or workplace? Read the Bentley-Gallup "Force for Good" Survey to read about the current landscape of Americans' workplace expectations and how they believe business can be a force for good in the world today.